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Research & Data

To gauge the success and reach of the federal nutrition programs, FRAC charts participation in the federal nutrition progams through monthly updates, annual publications, and additional research. This section of FRAC’s website contains the latest reports and data for all the major federal nutrition programs.

Restoring the value of the minimum wage — and helping families cover basic needs — is essential to addressing hunger. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has not increased since 2009. A more adequate minimum wage would foster the nation’s economic strength and growth to be shared in more equitable ways. Low-income workers and their families would benefit the most from a higher minimum wage, leading to reduced poverty, hunger, and income inequality.

From FRAC, the Economic Policy Institute, and the National Employment Law Project.

The monthly benefits provided by SNAP enhance the foodpurchasing power of eligible low-income individuals and families. However, as described by many studies, including one by the Institute of Medicine, the greatest shortcoming of SNAP is that benefits for most households are not enough to get through the entire month without hunger or being forced to sacrifice nutrition quality. This limitation persists even in the face of overwhelming evidence on the gains from more adequate monthly SNAP benefits.

This paper briefly analyzes why SNAP benefits are inadequate, reviews the body of research showing positive effects from more adequate SNAP benefits, and concludes with some of the key policy solutions that can improve benefit adequacy.

More than 40 million Americans are living in households that are food insecure. Even as the economy has improved, millions of families have been left behind, and the need for food assistance remains high. Congress should deepen its historically bipartisan commitment to programs that provide food assistance to vulnerable low-income households by protecting the structure of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the other federal nutrition programs, and by sufficiently funding them to address hunger in America.

The Role of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in Improving Health and Well-Being

SNAP’s role in improving health is crucially important, given the high rates of food insecurity, obesity, and diet-related chronic disease in the nation. Furthermore, leading scholars, economists, and health professionals recognize SNAP’s impacts on health and well-being.